My dirty life and times.

March 03, 2010

A Death in the Blogging Family

The great Jon Swift has died. That's the "blogging" angle to a personal tragedy. In reality, the voice of Jon Swift - the hilarious faux conservative blogger whose talent and passion were evident in every post - belonged to Al Weisel, a sweet and good-natured journalist who happened to be the college roommate of my once-and-future collaborator Jason Chervokas.

I didn't know him well, but Al graciously agreed to be part of my little newcritics experiment of a couple of years back and his presence at some of our New York gatherings was generous, friendly, and low key - though the humor could sometimes be appropriately biting.

Al was on the way to his father's funeral in Virginia when he suffered a sudden aortic aneurysm and underwent several surgeries in an attempt to save his life. Sadly, they did not succeed.

Heartbreakingly, Al's mother has posted this comment to the Jon Swift blog, unmasking the true identify of her brilliant son - and yes, he was a blogging super-hero to many of us.

I don't know how else to tell you all who love this blog. I am Jon
Swift's Mom and I guess I'm going to OUT him. He was Al Weisel, my
beloved son. Al was on his way to his father's funeral in VA when he
suffered 2 aortic aneurysms, a leaky aortic valve and an aortic artery
dissection from his heart to his pelvis. He had 3 major surgeries
within 24 hours and sometime during those surgeries also suffered a
severe stroke. We, his 2 sisters, his brother, his partner and his best
friend since he was 9 years old were with him as he took his last
breath. We have all lost a shining start who warmed our hearts,
tormented us and made us laugh as he giggled at our pulling something
over on us. He passed away on February 27, 2010. My beloved child will
live on in so many hearts. I miss him more than I can say. If you are
on Facebook, go to organizations and join "Friends of Al Weisel,
Unite!" It will give you just a taste of how special he was. Farewell,
Jon (Al)

Al Weisel was the political poser's worst enemy as Jon Swift, but he was also a good guy to hang around the pub with and commiserate over New York's shrinking freelance rates. Gone all too soon, he'll be truly missed by many.

UPDATE II: Fine remembrances online - Jason, who knew him best among our group, because he knew him youngest. Please stop by his place and leave a comment; here's a bit:

In the nearly 30 years that I knew Al I didn't see him much--once or
twice a year maybe, during some decades less, during some decades more.
My sense of Al was that for him intimacy and emotion were never easy
but there was something about our rare occasional conversations that I
cherished deeply, and it was precisely the easy intimacy that results
from sharing life events during those tender years when the vulnerable
parts are all exposed no matter how well we think we're hiding them. I
know that is the kind of friendship I'll never have the chance to
develop again, so on a purely selfish level I'll miss Al more than
probably he would have known.

Speaking of hiding things-- keeping secrets, was definitely one of
Al's most treasured inner pastimes. For years, literally years, he
would remind me with agitation about something I had written in the
early Internet days to the effect that we've basically given up our
privacy in the modern age anyway so why concern ourselves with
protecting it online. Privacy, even secrecy, remained for Al a deeply
cherished notion. I've been reading many of the blog posts eulogizing Al's Jon Swift persona.
I know Al was proud of Jon Swift, perhaps a little frustrated by his
inability to make it pay off in a kind of Matt Drudgey way. He
certainly was gleeful about poking fun at conservative group think
(sometimes the line between his parodies and the non-parodic statements
of actual conservatives was indecipherable), and his malicious,
gleeful, nervous laugh will be sorely missed. But I keep wondering,
reading the Swift mourning, how many personae Al really had and who
among his family, friends and lovers actually knew all of Al?

I met Al/Jon at the New Critics parties that Tom refers to, and he
was a quietly intense guy, not in a bad way, but with a driven quality
enabled him to devour all sorts of conservative craziness and alchemize
it into comedy set-pieces dense with specifics but never losing their
coherent purpose. There was always a "through-line" to his longer posts
that had the electric hum of a third rail.

He was also the co-author of a lively book about James Dean and the making of Rebel Without a Cause, Live Fast, Die Young. I didn't have the sense Al/Jon lived too fast, but he definitely died too young.

Watching the spreadin profusion of links and tweets and comments this afternoon, it's amazing how many lives Al Weisel touched in his quietly intense way - mainly through the gift of his writing.

UPDATE III: Other heart-felt posts that should be read and commented on by friends in the blogging community:

Comments

A Death in the Blogging Family

The great Jon Swift has died. That's the "blogging" angle to a personal tragedy. In reality, the voice of Jon Swift - the hilarious faux conservative blogger whose talent and passion were evident in every post - belonged to Al Weisel, a sweet and good-natured journalist who happened to be the college roommate of my once-and-future collaborator Jason Chervokas.

I didn't know him well, but Al graciously agreed to be part of my little newcritics experiment of a couple of years back and his presence at some of our New York gatherings was generous, friendly, and low key - though the humor could sometimes be appropriately biting.

Al was on the way to his father's funeral in Virginia when he suffered a sudden aortic aneurysm and underwent several surgeries in an attempt to save his life. Sadly, they did not succeed.

Heartbreakingly, Al's mother has posted this comment to the Jon Swift blog, unmasking the true identify of her brilliant son - and yes, he was a blogging super-hero to many of us.

I don't know how else to tell you all who love this blog. I am Jon
Swift's Mom and I guess I'm going to OUT him. He was Al Weisel, my
beloved son. Al was on his way to his father's funeral in VA when he
suffered 2 aortic aneurysms, a leaky aortic valve and an aortic artery
dissection from his heart to his pelvis. He had 3 major surgeries
within 24 hours and sometime during those surgeries also suffered a
severe stroke. We, his 2 sisters, his brother, his partner and his best
friend since he was 9 years old were with him as he took his last
breath. We have all lost a shining start who warmed our hearts,
tormented us and made us laugh as he giggled at our pulling something
over on us. He passed away on February 27, 2010. My beloved child will
live on in so many hearts. I miss him more than I can say. If you are
on Facebook, go to organizations and join "Friends of Al Weisel,
Unite!" It will give you just a taste of how special he was. Farewell,
Jon (Al)

Al Weisel was the political poser's worst enemy as Jon Swift, but he was also a good guy to hang around the pub with and commiserate over New York's shrinking freelance rates. Gone all too soon, he'll be truly missed by many.

UPDATE II: Fine remembrances online - Jason, who knew him best among our group, because he knew him youngest. Please stop by his place and leave a comment; here's a bit:

In the nearly 30 years that I knew Al I didn't see him much--once or
twice a year maybe, during some decades less, during some decades more.
My sense of Al was that for him intimacy and emotion were never easy
but there was something about our rare occasional conversations that I
cherished deeply, and it was precisely the easy intimacy that results
from sharing life events during those tender years when the vulnerable
parts are all exposed no matter how well we think we're hiding them. I
know that is the kind of friendship I'll never have the chance to
develop again, so on a purely selfish level I'll miss Al more than
probably he would have known.

Speaking of hiding things-- keeping secrets, was definitely one of
Al's most treasured inner pastimes. For years, literally years, he
would remind me with agitation about something I had written in the
early Internet days to the effect that we've basically given up our
privacy in the modern age anyway so why concern ourselves with
protecting it online. Privacy, even secrecy, remained for Al a deeply
cherished notion. I've been reading many of the blog posts eulogizing Al's Jon Swift persona.
I know Al was proud of Jon Swift, perhaps a little frustrated by his
inability to make it pay off in a kind of Matt Drudgey way. He
certainly was gleeful about poking fun at conservative group think
(sometimes the line between his parodies and the non-parodic statements
of actual conservatives was indecipherable), and his malicious,
gleeful, nervous laugh will be sorely missed. But I keep wondering,
reading the Swift mourning, how many personae Al really had and who
among his family, friends and lovers actually knew all of Al?

I met Al/Jon at the New Critics parties that Tom refers to, and he
was a quietly intense guy, not in a bad way, but with a driven quality
enabled him to devour all sorts of conservative craziness and alchemize
it into comedy set-pieces dense with specifics but never losing their
coherent purpose. There was always a "through-line" to his longer posts
that had the electric hum of a third rail.

He was also the co-author of a lively book about James Dean and the making of Rebel Without a Cause, Live Fast, Die Young. I didn't have the sense Al/Jon lived too fast, but he definitely died too young.

Watching the spreadin profusion of links and tweets and comments this afternoon, it's amazing how many lives Al Weisel touched in his quietly intense way - mainly through the gift of his writing.

UPDATE III: Other heart-felt posts that should be read and commented on by friends in the blogging community:

My Dirty Life & Times

Tom Watson is a journalist, author, media critic, entrepreneur and consultant who has worked at the confluence of media technology and social change for more than 20 years. This long-running blog is my personal outlet - an idiosyncratic view of the world. "My dirty life and times" is a nod to the late, great Warren Zevon because some days I feel like my shadow's casting me.